I Didn't Say Anything
by MayeGirl
Summary: AlicePOV. Alice finds Bella crying in the bathroom and, sick of listening to Edward's ban of talking to the human girl, invites her to have a slumber party. And by the way, Edward, she didn't SAY anything.


I pushed the bathroom door open slowly, letting it creak as to not scare her. Her quiet sniffles seemed to echo in the tiled room, but I knew that was just me; I had heard her crying from down the hall, my ears were that sensitive. Of course, that could also be because I had heard her crying even before she had started. My visions worked that way sometimes.

"Bella?" I asked quietly, pushing open the stall door on the end where I knew I would find her.

I was breaking his rules right now. I wasn't supposed to speak to her, but did he honestly expect me to listen to him when a girl was crying? Especially if she was crying because h was being a jerk?

I knew his reasons for acting that way, but he didn't really have to be so MEAN!

"Are you alright?" I asked, folding my legs gracefully beneath me so that I could sit on the floor next to her.

"Oh, um," she wiped hurriedly a her tears and glanced at me in confusion.

"I'm Alice Cullen, Edward's sister," she winced at my brother's name.

"Bella," she muttered, blowing her nose.

"I know," I smiled. "Are you alright?"

"I'm f-fine," she hiccuped.

Careful to not let our skin touch, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You're a terrible liar. Did you know that? What's wrong?"

"I-it's nothing," she lied again.

"Uh-huh," I rolled my eyes. "So, you're crying over nothing."

I could feel her resolve give, "It's Edward. He h-hates m-me," she sobbed. "I can see it in his eyes that he regrets saving my life."

I almost laughed at the stupidity of that idea. "No, he doesn't regret saving you life, Bella. He's just...it's complicated." I hesitated one moment.

OH, WHAT'S THE USE? HE'S ALREADY GOING TO KILL ME.

"Say, Bella, would you mind helping me pick a dress out for the dance?" I asked,eager now that my mind was made up. "I have a bunch of old ones, but I can't decide which on to wear, and Esme and Rosalie are no help." I pouted darting a glance at her confused face. "You could sleep over too! We could make a slumber party out of it!"

Bella seemed both hesitant and confused as she answered. "Um, sure?"

"Great!" I clapped my hands together in excitement. "I'll pick you up tonight at seven!"

I was gone before she could protest.

******

Edward shook with rage the entire way home. "What are you thinking, Alice?!"

I smiled. YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M THINKING: DRESSES... I flashed him my memory of my closest full of dresses.

"Yes," he rolled his eyes at my sarcasm. "What I meant is, what are you thinking? Inviting HER here?"

I spoke aloud for the others' benefit, "I'm thinking that Bella and I are going to be great friends, and right now, she could use one. Because a certain someone is being a jerk." I darted out the car door before he could reply.

OH, I added mentally, AND SHE THINKS YOU HATE HER.

I danced up the stairs and into mine and Jasper's room, quickly removing any traces that it was his room too and hid them in the attic.

"Alice," Carlisle spoke softly from the dining room.

I sighed, HERE COMES THE STORM.

I quickly joined my family in the dining room, glancing around at their expressions.

Rosalie and Edward wore identical expressions of fury, for completely different reasons, I was sure. Edward's lips twitched, trying not to smile but confirming my thoughts.

Carlisle seemed worried, Esme excited, Emmett eager, and Jasper, my beloved Jasper, seemed hurt and fearful. And I knew why.

"Don't worry, Jasper. You won't hurt her." I took his hand in mine and smiled lovingly. "You and Edward can go hunting if you want."

"I'm not leaving Bella alone with you," Edward growled menacingly.

"That might not be a good idea," I smiled evilly at him. "With the way you glare at her, she might really start to believe you regret saving her life."

"Is this wise, Alice?" Carlisle intervened worriedly. "Bella already suspects something is wrong about us. If something were to happen... she is quite accident prone."

I shrugged, unconcerned. "We'll stay in my room. I've already Bella-proofed it. Anything sharp or harmful had been removed."

Emmett laughed, "That girl could probably choke on soup! What'll you do for dinner?

"I'm picking her up after dinner. Don't worry, guys, I have this completely under control."

Esme clapped her hands together. "Well, I can't wait to meet Bella!"

******

Bella almost fell into the passenger seat when I pulled up next to her house.

"Sorry," she muttered.

I laughed gently, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled as I sped through town back to my house.

"Here we are," I turned to grin at her shocked expression. "It's not much, but it's home."

"Not much?" she spluttered, slipping out the door.

I watched my speed, keeping it human, as we walked into the house. Immediately, I could smell chocolate-chip cookies baking in the kitchen.

"Mm," Bella closed her eyes, breathing deeply. "That smells delicious! Your mom must be a great cook."

"Actually, that's Edward's doing." I laughed as Bella stumbled up the stairs after me. "He's probably trying to impress you," I added quietly so that she couldn't hear.

"Shut up, Alice," Edward replied from the kitchen.

I smiled. "Here, Bella, you can throw your bag down there," I gestured to the bed.

She dumped her backpack at the end of the silver bedspread and frowned. "Wow, this bed is humongous! You get it all to yourself?"

I shook my head, "Nah, I usually share it but it's only me, Edward, Esme, and Carlisle here tonight. The others are off camping."

"Oh..." Bella hesitated, "So, what are we going to do?"

"Let's go see why Edward's baking!"I cried enthusiastically.

I kept pace with her all the way down to the living room.

"Alice," she asked quietly, falsely thinking Edward wouldn't hear her, "are you sure it's okay for me to be here? I mean, Edward seems to want to kill me whenever we're in class."

"Edward doesn't determine who comes to our house," Esme said from the computer in the corner.

Bella must not have seen her because she jumped a mile. "Oh, um, hi, Mrs. Cullen."

"Please, call me ESME," Esme smiled at Bells. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the girl who has all my children so intrigued."

"Esme," Edward said quietly so Bella could not hear.

Esme sighed and Edward appeared in the kitchen doorway. "The cookies are done," he informed us, his eyes flicking towards Bella for a tenth of a second, "if you want some."

"Speaking of which," I grinned, determined to get an answer. "Why did you make cookies?"

Edward shrugged and turned back to the kitchen.

Bella and I chatted while she ate and I claimed diabetes. Afterwards, I forced her to watch my try on half my collection of dresses, extracting a compliment for each outfit. Finally, I pulled out my manicure stuff and began to work on her nails, ignoring her protests.

"So," I grinned, "let's talk BOYS."

Bella flushed - not to my surprise, she seemed to do that a LOT.

"Um, er," she stuttered nervously.

I grinned again, "Have your eyes on someone in particular?" LIKE EDWARD, PERHAPS? I added, mentally teasing him sine I KNEW he was spying.

"Shut up, Alice," I heard him say from all the way downstairs.

I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING! I protested, imagining him rolling his eyes.

"N-not really," Bella was saying so I brought my attention back into the room.

"What?" I asked skeptically. "Really?"

She nodded and shrugged.

I pulled an Edward and rolled my eyes. "Come on, Bella, that's no fun... You must have had SOMEONE in Phoenix."

"Um, no," she seemed glad the conversation had strayed from Forks' boys.

"No boyfriend?" Bella shook her head. "OK, any dates?" Shake. "Crushes?" Shake. "Alright, how about a kiss? You've HAD to have had your FIRST KISS."

It did not seem possible that this girl - who had caught the eye of almost every boy in school - had not had her first kiss, even if she wasn't dating anyone.

"No, I haven't," Bella replied defensively. "No on in Phoenix ever thought I was worth their time," she shrugged. "None of them have ever looked my way until I came to Forks, but that's only because I'm the new girl; the different girl; the girl who DIDN'T grow up around here." She shrugged again. "And personally, I've never really cared to anyone in particular before..." her voice trailed off.

BEFORE EDWARD. I finished her sentence mentally.

"Alice!" he groaned loudly from his room.

WHAT?! I DIDN'T say ANYTHING!

I smiled, once again imagining him rolling his eyes.


End file.
